Lode feed store a popular place

ANGELS CAMP - As Patti Spence tells it, when her parents started a small feed store in Angels Camp in 1977, they merely looked forward to a "good pastime."

Katie Combs

ANGELS CAMP - As Patti Spence tells it, when her parents started a small feed store in Angels Camp in 1977, they merely looked forward to a "good pastime."

It was more of a hobby, really. Her father, William, was a cattle rancher, and her mother, Linda, expected to get a lot of sewing done with some free time.

"Before they knew it, (the store) took off like gangbusters," Patti Spence said. "It became a full-time job really fast."

The Spences moved to the current building, on Highway 49 just outside of Angels Camp, the following year. Over the years, Spence Ranch Feed & Supply has undergone several extensions and traded a dirt parking lot for pavement.

But the biggest changes have been on the shelves, Spence said.

When they first started, the business carried just a few shampoos. Now there are more than 20. The same applies to hay and to dog food, which today fills rack upon rack.

"It's kind of ever-growing,"Spence said. "It's such a changing industry."

There are a variety of supplements available for show animals. There's also tack, toys, treats, bedding, fencing, nursery products, aquarium supplies and more.

The store's clientele is varied: everything from ranchers down to "people with just one cat." Customers shop for rabbits, poultry, llamas and, once in a while, chinchillas.

Spence Ranch Feed & Supply even carries feed for wild birds and deer.

Mike Peirano lives just outside Angels Camp and visits Spence regularly for liquid feed, hay, salts and other supplies for his family's ranch.

"I wouldn't go anyplace else," he said. "If I need something, they get it for me."

Patti Spence came to work for the store full time in 1990 and today works alongside her sister-in-law, niece and daughters. Her dad still hauls feed in his truck. Her mother passed away in 2001.

"I didn't really think that I would ever be able to do everything my mom did. She knew so much and did so much," Spence said. "Sometimes I think that she would shake her head if she could see how much dog food and things we have."